


when i get close (i get a fever)

by godsensei



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe- A/B/O, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 10:17:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12209244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godsensei/pseuds/godsensei
Summary: Lance's suppressant shots wear off in space, revealing his Omega nature. Shiro & Keith want to help.





	when i get close (i get a fever)

**Author's Note:**

> Shklance A/B/O. hoping to finish this one, but if not I really wanted to explore A/B/O and add my own little flair to it because I’ve never done so before. 
> 
> title from 'freak' by azizi gibson
> 
> more warnings at the end. not beta-ed.

“Oh, fuck,” Lance breathes, legs trembling as he leans against the cold wall of the hallway. He’s out of sight, but that won't really matter with his scent ratcheting up by the second.

 

He’s going into heat-- on a fucking  _ Galra _ ship, no less. 

 

He knew it would happen eventually, but Lance has always had irregular heats, and the suppressants shot he’d taken was supposed to last… six months. 

 

It has been well,  _ well _ past six months out here in space. He knows that sometimes the body takes months to regulate again, and with his usual irregularity, he hadn’t really thought about it too much. It’d been a secondary concern, anyway, not something he’d had to think about.

 

Until now.

 

He presses his face into the coolness of the wall, already beginning to feel feverish and flushed. His legs are shaking underneath him and sweat runs down the back of his neck. 

 

He honestly would like to slide down the wall and forget about everything, but that's not a luxury he can afford right now.

 

“Alright, Lance,” Pidge says through the comms, startling him into standing straight, “it’s almost your go.” 

 

Just his luck.

 

“Pidge, we might have to… ixnay the plan. The  _ me _ part of it, specifically,” Lance says, adjusting his bayard in his grip. 

 

“What do you mean? We can't drop a plan that's already in motion!” Pidge yells, alarmed, and Hunk makes a worried sound over the comms.

 

“What's going on, Lance?” he asks. “It really isn't the best idea to make changes to the plan right now.” 

 

“Absolutely not,” Keith says, and Lance sucks in a breath at the authority in his voice. That's  _ humiliating _ . He hates being an omega so much.

 

“All you have to do is sneak past a few guards and flip a switch. What's hard about this?” He asks. Lance doesn't appreciate his tone. 

 

“Sneaking isn't going to be an option for me,” Lance says through his teeth, clenching his jaw tightly as he shuffles forward. “If I go in there, I’ll be caught.”

 

“Why?” Pidge stresses, but is interrupted by Shiro.

 

“If you don't feel safe, Lance, one of us can meet you where you are--”

 

“No!” he yelps, then drops his tense shoulders, “no, it's… I’ll figure it out.”

 

“Well, that’s good, cause Lance, you’re up!” Pidge yells and Lance rolls his neck, pulling his gun into position. 

 

“Here goes nothin’!” He bursts into the room, three Galra who were previously resting comfortably jumping into action at the interruption. 

 

His body hurts, but it doesn't matter. He takes down the first Galra with a well aimed blast, throwing himself into a rolling flip to avoid a sword straight to the neck. He comes up on his heels, nearly tripping as he dodges another violent slash. He knocks that one out with the butt of his gun, but a dizzy wave overwhelms him and he catches a punch to the face, going down.

 

“That really hurt,” he pouts, wiping blood from his mouth and looking down at the crimson on his fingers. An alarm blares to life and Lance rolls his eyes, pulling his bayard up and shooting the triumphant looking Galra right in the knee caps--  _ pow, pow _ . The Galra howls as he falls, and Lance stands, stepping over him to get to his objective. He foregoes flipping the switch, opting to destroy it instead. His legs buckle under him.

 

“Really?” He glares at his useless legs, yanking at the elastic of his suit to let some cool air in. 

 

“System deactivated. Nice work, Lance!” Pidge comments, and Lance waves it away, despite her not being able to see him. 

 

“Alright, Paladins,” Shiro says, huffing heavily into the comms, “you know the drill. Back to the Castle-Ship, try to avoid engaging.”  

 

“Got it,” Hunk affirms, followed by an unenthusiastic grunt from Keith.

 

Lance pushes himself back up, taking a breath before he leaves the room. The hall is empty, though that doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. He keeps his bayard at the ready, heart pounding as he sneaks around.

 

He makes his way down a flickering hallway, sliding one foot in front of the other, until he gets to the end. He almost peeks his head around, but flattens himself against the wall when a Galra runs past, looking harried.  _ Good _ , Lance thinks petulantly,  _ he should be _ . 

 

He waits, then looks around the corner in both directions, and takes off. He runs, though his legs feel like jelly and his thighs are burning. He’s sweating profusely. The smell is sweet instead of sour. 

 

Two more corners and he’ll be where he needs to be, but the halls are long. The power flicks off and on. It makes it harder to navigate, harder to see. He’s about to turn again, but runs smack into a large chest, stumbling backwards, but pulling his gun up and aiming as soon as he regains balance. 

 

“Well, what do we have here?” The Galran smirks, standing to full height and looking down his nose at Lance. 

 

“Nobody! We can pretend I was never even here,” Lance suggests, arms burning just from holding the gun up. 

 

“Looks like what we actually have,” Ugly Face says, “is a lone paladin, who’s bleeding from the mouth and shaking in his boots and--”

 

Ugly pauses, sniffing at the air, eyes cutting back to Lance quickly, pupils dilating.

 

Lance has seen that look before, unfortunately. This is exactly what he needs right now. He didn’t even  _ know _ Galrans had the same reproductive… system? Explains where Keith came from, honestly. Not all species are like them. The Alteans aren’t, from what Coran explained.

 

“A lone paladin who’s in heat,” the Galran finishes, smiling eerily. He makes to move, but Lance readjusts his grip on the gun, expression hardening. His chest quivers, unable to quell that tinge of fear that comes with being an omega.

 

“Move and I blow your face off,” he warns, finger against the trigger. He tries to keep himself relaxed, but he’s much better suited to long distance skirmishes. Keith is the one with up-close combat experience. 

 

“I don’t think you will,” Ugly says.

 

“Why’s that?” Lance asks, but yelps when two arms grab him from behind, covering both of his arms and forcing him to drop his bayard. 

 

He panics, throwing his limbs about as hard as he can. Some part of him can’t breathe, but the part that’s been training every day shoves him into action. With his bayard out, he can’t shoot anyone, but he knows how to get out of a hold like this. 

 

He sets his feet on the ground, lowers his hips and hooks a hand underneath the Galran’s left arm, grabbing his own wrist to break the Galran’s hold. He turns, driving his knee up as hard as he can into the Galran’s stomach, and rolling backwards, using the momentum to flip him. He kneels over the Galra quickly, turning his arm at an unnatural angle and striking him in the gut. 

 

He rolls backwards again, grabbing his bayard, and standing with it. He aims. 

 

Ugly growls. 

 

“Move,” Lance orders, baring his bloody teeth. He doesn’t have time for this. 

 

The Galran submits with his hands in front of him. They circle one another, staring at each other until Lance gets the entrance of the hall. Lance waits a beat to catch his breath, then takes off, running as quickly as he can and not looking back. He’s sure the Galra will follow, but he’s confident he’ll make it to the Lions. 

 

“Lance, we’re waiting for you. Are you good?” Shiro asks, and Lance forcing out a laugh between his panting. 

 

“Get in the Lions, I’ll be right there,” he says, the robots coming into sight. He chances a look back and, sure enough, the Galrans are following. Their legs are long, but Lance is quick. He doubles his efforts, his muscles screaming, and pockets his bayard. 

 

Blue lowers her head when he arrives, running into her open mouth and collapsing into his pilot’s chair as they take off. 

 

\----------

 

The hangar of the Castle-Ship is a blessing, but he can’t seem to really enjoy the relief. He presses down against the seat, unable to catch his breath. Fuck, he forgot how bad his heats hit him. He pants uselessly, mouth hanging open, clutching the arms of his pilot’s chair.

 

He doesn’t move, eyes squeezed closed as he clenches his legs together. They’ve been back for minutes, and he sees the others exiting their Lions, conversing and checking each other for injuries. 

 

They seem to notice he isn’t there halfway through, glancing around and noticing that Blue is back in resting position, but isn’t deactivated.

 

They filter over, and Hunk and Pidge put their helmets back on.

 

“Lance, are you okay? Why aren’t you coming out?” Hunk asks. They arrive at the mouth of the Lion, trying to open it. 

 

“Don’t come in here,” he moans, pushing his heels into the floor as a wave of desire washes over him. 

 

“Lance what’s going on?” Pidge asks over the comms when he forbids Blue to open the door telepathically. “Can we get this thing open?” 

 

The last part is muffled, probably said to Hunk. Lance’s mind jumps straight into panic mode, and he slams himself into Blue’s consciousness. She panics, too, throwing the other paladins back as the bubble shield activates. 

 

He hears them yell as they land and he winces. It's not like he meant for that to happen but he's running on instincts right now.

 

Speaking of instincts, he knows he can't stay in here forever. There's no food, no nest, no relief to be found here. It's going to get bad soon, he can already feel the fever taking over, the deepening sensation in the pit of his belly.

 

“Can they smell me in here?” he asks Blue. She doesn't know, but the bubble probably will keep him safe. He thanks her miserably, huffing out warm air as sweat drips down his skin.

 

“Lance,” Keith growls in the comms, his Voice edging into it, and Lance arches in the chair, letting out a breathy ‘haaa’ noise. 

 

It's not fair that he has to feel like this. The only Omega in the McClain family and the only Omega out here in space. 

 

“What's going on, Lance?” Shiro asks, and Lance sighs, head lolling back as his toes curl. He's starting to feel that urge, the one that tells him to submit, to offer himself up. Shiro is always emitting a particularly heady scent, and Lance can just imagine pressing his nose right at the hinge of Shiro’s jaw, inhaling.

 

He squeezes his eyes shut. This is one of the reasons he took suppressants. He didn't need his team knowing he was a liability. Anymore than he already is, anyway.

 

Seventh wheel, cargo pilot, Omega.

 

“Are you okay?” Hunk asks anxiously, “did you get injured on the way out?” 

 

“Lance,” Keith says again, gentler this time. “ _ Did _ you get injured?”

 

He doesn't know what to do. He’s spent heats alone before but he’d had resources at the time. His family has tried to help where they could, trying to send in refreshments and giving him privacy the rest of the time.

 

A tear slips down his face and he wipes at it angrily, cursing his surging hormones.

 

“Lance,” Shiro says, worried at the silence. 

 

“I’m fine,” he answers and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief.

 

“What are you doing in there, then?” Keith asks. 

 

They all murmur their curious agreement, and Lance looks to the ceiling for strength.

 

“I’m… fuck--ok.” Lance presses his face into his hands for a moment to collect himself.

 

“It's alright, Lance,” Shiro says, using his Voice to soothe him. He goes boneless in his seat and somehow finds the courage to open his eyes again.

 

“Like a bandaid.” He opens his cockpit and stumbles on weak legs toward the exit, Blue releasing the shield reluctantly. She gives him a stern warning about his safety, which he acknowledges with a grunt.

 

He can tell the moment the scent hits them and grimaces in embarrassment. Keeping his distance is best, he thinks, as he watches them react.

 

Keith goes very still, his previously crossed arms dropping to his sides. Hunk’s eyes widen, mouth dropping open. 

 

“You’re an  _ Omega _ ?” Pidge asks for them, lacking any tact. 

 

Lance crosses his arms defensively, shrugging his shoulders. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Hunk asks. His voice is wavering with uncertainty, like Lance doesn’t trust him-- hasn’t trusted him this whole time.

 

“I just-- I mean, I’m the only Omega on the ship. I was one of the only Omegas at the Garrison. It was easiest to keep my mouth shut, instead of telling everyone and having them treat me differently. I’m sorry, Hunk. I know I could’ve trusted you-- but my instincts are hard to control and I didn’t feel safe there.”

 

“So you don’t feel safe  _ here _ ?” Pidge asks, her shoulders dropping.

 

“It’s not that I don’t feel safe around you guys, particularly, but, c’mon. We’re not exactly sitting pretty out here in a universe full of enemies.” Lance sighs,  “It was just easier... for me. I feel more in control when people think I’m just a Beta.” He says so, miserably, feeling like an outsider already.

 

“Lance,” Shiro pipes up, “I know that this is a lot, but, we need to know. Are you going into a Heat?”

 

Lance flinches, biting his lip as he looks away. He nods. 

 

They all make their own noises, and Lance feels his lower lip starting to tremble. Stupid, he’s so fucking stupid. 

 

“Hunk,” Shiro says, turning to him, “you should escort Lance to his room and help him with his wounds. I’ll need to discuss this with Allura.”

 

Dismissal. It feels more like rejection. 

 

He glances at Keith, who’s still watching him intensely. He’s been suspiciously silent, his nostrils flaring every so often.    
  
“C’mon buddy,” Hunk says, putting an arm around his shoulder. It’s comforting in the way it’s always been. He could trust Hunk to never hurt him, he knows this with 100% certainty. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> slight implied non-con between two galrans and lance. no actual non-con.


End file.
